Beatles News

We already brought you part one of our list of 15 things you probably did not know about The Beatles, and now we’re back with part two! Check out eight more fascinating facts about the iconic English rock band that you definitely (probably) did not know below. You might be surprised by what you find out!

Number Eight: They Had Some Interesting Ambitions. In 1963, The Beatles were asked what their ambitions were. Lennon’s was “to write a musical,” McCartney’s was “to have my picture in the Dandy,” Harrison’s was “to design a guitar,” and Starr’s was “to be happy.”

Number Seven: They Had Their Own Talcum Powder. At the height of their fame, Beatlemania was so bad that consumers would buy literally anything that had The Beatles’ name attached to it. To capitalize on this, The Beatles released all sorts of merchandise, including bubble bath, women’s stocking, and talcum powder.

Number Six: “Yellow Submarine” Has Some Serious Sound Effects. To amp up “Yellow Submarine,” sound engineers added chains, whistles, handbells, and a tin bath to the track. This fell in line with The Beatles’ s
details

When you walk into Penne Lane in Macomb Township, your senses are ignited.

The smell of fresh, homemade bread wafts from the kitchen, followed by the sweet sounds of ‘The Beatles’ pouring from the speakers, greeting you at the door.

“As the youngest of 5 brothers and sisters, I shared their passion for The Beatles in the 70’s and now I am able to combine both of my passions in my career – good food and good music.”

Chef Bob Halaas, a veteran of the U.S. Army’s food service program, is no rookie to the restaurant business. He and his wife Tonia owned a breakfast and lunch diner in Chesterfield for 11 years before selling it to new ownership, appropriately named Strawberry Fields.

“That restaurant became a shrine to The Beatles,” said Halaas. “My memorabilia was up on the walls, even the menu was Beatles themed, “I Want to Hold Your Hash”, the seafood portion of the menu was called “Octopuses Garden” and I could go on and now I am carrying my love for The Beatles over into our new venture.”

If you don’t know any other band, you still probably know The Beatles. The Beatles remain one of the most relevant English rock bands of all time, and though not all members are still alive, it will be a long time before they’re forgotten. Despite the fact that The Beatles spent a considerable amount of time in the spotlight and under the scrutiny of the public eye, there are still some things that many people don’t know. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about The Beatles. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!

Number Fifteen: Before They Were The Beatles, They Were The Quarry Men. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison made a record in 1958 under the moniker of The Quarry Men. The record only cost them 17 and sixpence to create.

Number Fourteen: The Beatles Didn’t Come Up With Their Own Name. In fact, Stuart Sutcliffe was the one who came up with the name “The Beatals.” Sutcliffe was a friend of Lennon’s from art school.

Number Thirteen: They Didn’t Use Fender Guitars Until 1965. In an effort to distance themselves from fellow rock band The Shadows, The Beatl
details

John Lennon swiped a fan's pint of beer and then pledged to buy one back for him during a gig which had long been forgotten, it is claimed. The singer was performing with band mates Paul, George and Ringo at the Ritz Ballroom in Kings Heath, Birmingham, in 1962.

The mop topped rockers had yet to hit the big time when they appeared in the second city and former Cadbury's worker Malcolm Ward told how he met Lennon - only to lose his drink to him. Now aged 75, Malcolm said: "I put my glass, as I always did, by a speaker. I shouted at Lennon ‘Oi, that’s my ale!’ "He shouted back ‘I’ll buy you one’. But he never did."

Malcolm, from Bartley Green, is among many readers who responded to the Sunday Mercury's call for details of the Beatles ’ ‘lost’ concert.

Last week the paper revealed how rock historians Bob Prew and Ken Whittaker issued an SOS after being tipped off about the group’s mystery February 1962 appearance, which predates what has always been thought the group’s first Birmingham appearance the following year. They wanted to know if it really happened. It did.

Malcolm, who now lives in Kent, knows – because he was there. A
details

Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, was a beautiful day for tech-savvy Beatles-lovers around the world: at last, the band's utterly amazing song catalogue was added to several music streaming services, including Spotify. While Beatles hits such as “All You Need is Love” and “Let It Be” are unquestionably familiar to practically everyone, some of their lesser-known songs are just as innovative, groundbreaking and catchy as the rest of their discography. If you’re looking to become more well-rounded in your familiarity with the Beatles’ music, check out these tracks.

5. “Anna (Go to Him)”

Album: "Please Please Me"

Though the song was originally written and performed by Arthur Alexander, the Beatles’ cover is often lauded as even better than the original. The Fab Four recorded the song for their debut album in 1963. While the Beatles were still incredibly young at the time of recording, the song beautifully showcases George Harrison’s mastery of the guitar, as well as John Lennon’s ability to produce an emotional, heartbreaking vocal performance.

When Mark Benson decided to join a Beatles tribute band in the early 1980s, he never imagined the gig would last more than a few months, never mind a few decades.

“We never intended this would be full-time, and I never thought this would be anything other than a baby-boomer thing, playing a party or a class reunion or a nightclub or two,” said Benson, who has been playing John Lennon in the band 1964 ... The Tribute for 32 years. The band has been performing at venues large and small across the country since 1984.

“We were all in Top 40s bands, but none of us played in the same band at the same time,” said Benson, who hails from Akron, Ohio. “We were moving away from Top 40 and thought this would be fun to do to keep performing. We thought it was something we might do once a month, once every two months, but by the second year, we were doing it full time.”

“I don’t think The Beatles have ever gone out of style,” Benson said. “We falsely assumed it was going to be a baby boomer kind of thing, that the people who grew up in that time period would be most for it. There really isn’t any demographic that isn’t represented in The Bea
details

David Bowie will be honoured with a tribute concert in New York later this year, with some legendary musicians set to take to the stage. Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Mick Jagger are amongst those expected to remember the star.

The event - named The Music of David Bowie - was already set to take place at Carnegie Hall before the singer died on Monday, but following his passing, the 31st March event will now be a memorial show.

According to the Daily Star, The Beatles and Rolling Stones legends are expected to join the likes of Sir Elton John as part of the line-up.

Meanwhile, a statement on the event's website reads: "The unexpected death of David Bowie has turned this tribute, which we have worked on for the past 7 months, into a memorial concert... "This year's concert will certainly be remembered as a poignant celebration of his music by his friends, peers, and fans.

"We are deeply saddened by the news. The timing of our public on-sale date is bizarre in its timing and the show is taking on many more emotions. RIP David and may God's love bewith you."

Newly enrolled at the Liverpool School of Art, a young and hungry musician named John Lennon was beginning to survey the landscape for like-minded talent. He was immediately taken with a dashing young Scot; a gifted painter with miles of style and a piercing James Dean stare.

The future rock legend knew right away that this lad was the real deal. The two immediately became flatmates, and Lennon enlisted the young man to play bass for a band they had agreed to call “the Beatals” (and then eventually, the Beatles, as a reference to Buddy Holly’s band, “the Crickets”.)

Stuart Sutcliffe wasn’t much of a musician. Though he’d only had basic musical training, Lennon insisted he join the band because, in the words of George Harrison, Stuart “looked so cool.”

Sutcliffe did happen to be a talented artist though, and he will be having a posthumous show of his artwork at Harper’s Apartment on East 74th Street, a new branch of the East Hampton bookstore, Harper’s Books.

Being the daughter of a Beatle has its perks: Stella McCartney tapped Beach Boy Brian Wilson to perform during the presentation of her Autumn 2016 collection Tuesday evening at iconic Los Angeles record shop Amoeba Music. Wilson, who ran through a slew of hits as McCartney snapped photos from the front row, embodied the Hollywood location's spirit, especially as he crooned "California Girls."

It was fitting as the evening marked the first time London-based designer Stella McCartney has shown a collection in LA. "It just felt right to be in LA right now," the designer told ELLE.com. "It's a place I spend a lot of time, and I have a lot of friends here. [Amoeba is] somewhere we've wanted to show for a really long time and we finally got them to say yes. I think my dad is the only person that's closed down the store, really."

Along with his music, David Bowie lives on through his art. The singer is among many giants in the music biz who created their own pieces over the years. You can see some of that art at a gallery in Michigan.

Bowie passed away of cancer just days after his 69th birthday and the release of his new album "Blackstar." Gerard Marti owns Robert Kidd Gallery located at 107 Townsend St. in Birmingham near Detroit.

The gallery houses all kinds of artwork from some of the biggest names in music history. Along with pieces from Bowie, you can find art made by Steven Tyler, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Tony Bennett and many more.

New pieces come in all the time and all of the pieces are for sale. You can see some of those pieces in the photo gallery at the top of this story. Marti also has great pieces of memorabilia, including autographed pieces from The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Marti used to work in the music industry in the 70s and 80s for EMI, so as you can imagine, he has a lot of connections.